i'm keith olbermann. good night and good luck. please join us for the live edition of "countdown" every week night at 8:00 p.m. tackling tax cuts. president obama sets the stage for a showdown with prens over plans to stimulate the economy. devastation in detroit, flames sweep through dozens of homes in michigan. and officials take no chances with a toy pony bomb square. this is "first look" on msnbc. we begin this morning with getting personal. president obama will dig deep

during a speech in cleveland today where, according to administration officials, he'll draw on his own personal background to convince voters that he knows what it's like to struggle through tough times. tracy potts joins us with more from washington on how the president plans to boost the economy. >> republican leader john boehner and in a region hit hard by unemployment. the president is expected to urge congress to let the bush tax cuts expire for the wealthy. individuals earning overed 200,000 and couples over $250,000. plus, he wants to spend $50 billion on transportation projects and create $200 billion in business tax breaks, allowing small businesses to write off capital investments lat next year, giving them more cash to hire new workers. >> we're talking investments into tomorrow that are creating hundreds of thousands of private sector jobs right now. >> all of it paid for by ending

tax breaks for big companies. republicans say it's the wrong approach. >> i don't think the american people want any more stimulus spending coming out of washington. we need to get our arms around the out of control spending. >> it's a probe business agenda designed to help ailing democrats in november, facing an electorate that's sick of facing washington politics. >> the state of the nation is what should be the driving force, and not whether you're democrat, republican or somewhere in between. >> president obama today hoping the promise of more jobs will convince voters to stick with his party. >> economists are split on whether this plan will work. and the president can't get any of it done without congress and most members of congress are up for re-election this year. lynn. >> tracy potts in washington, thanks. bp is in the spotlight this morning. according to this morning's "wall street journal," in the 200-page report, bp accepts

some, but not all of the blaims blame for the worst environmental disaster in u.s. history. critics are already questioning the summary's credibility, compiled mostly by bp employees with the inevitable task of exposing the company to a land slide of legal liability or pointing the finger elsewhere. meanwhile, news showing microbes are depleting the oil in the gulf without depleting the oxygen in the water. the protest of a florida church against the kuran continues to be a hot topic. >> we have got to deal with this and make sure that the men and women on the ground are ultimately safe. it's not necessarily a political issue. it's an issue that all americans need to embrace and i hope that

the reverend recognizes that. >> this is, in your opinion, a practical issue, this is not well, we shouldn't be covering this because it's giving attention to somebody trying to get publicity for his own cause or is somehow trying to backlash against people who he sees as an enemy? this is a practical thing kvrp you have practical experience of your own firsthand? >> yes. last year, less than a year ago i was in afghanistan where the taliban and insurgents in afghanistan used this same sort of tactic, burning of korans, defacing of mosques, and pitting it against american soldiers to put them in danger. >> blaming you and the people with which you served for burning korans. >> yes, sir. >> then what happened? >> then we'd have a back lash. all of the work to get to know the local nationals, the leadership, would suddenly be completely trumped because we were dealing with this propaganda campaign that the taliban and insurgents had used against us. >> keith olbermann takes a face-paced look at the day's stories and from the mainstream

to the odd ball. you don't want to miss "countdown with keith olbermann" weeknights at 8:00 p.m. on msnbc. firefighters are struggling to contain a rash of fires sweeping through multiple neighborhoods in detroit this morning. 50-mile-per-hour winds and dry conditions are fueling flames that have so far fueling two dozen homes. the strong winds have toppled two dozen power lines throughout the city, leaving 13,000 homes and businesses without any electricity. detroit's fire chief said yesterday it was one of the worst days for fires he's seen in his more than 35 years with the department. but the good news, so far no injuries have been reported. looking at other news going on around oklahoma today, a man is behind bars after leading police on a three-county high speed chase. the suspect and an complies, who were later captured, were part of a tri-county crime spree which involved a shooting and at

least four other car jackings. the suspect eventually surren r surrendered after a tire blew out. a florida elementary school was on lockdown after a suspicious stuffed pony was nearby. a bomb squad was called in and they blew tan mall to bits. no explosives were found inside. steven slater faced a judge on criminal miss chief charges, fatesing various charges after he allegedly cursed at a passenger. he will see a psychologist whose evaluation will factor into plea deal negotiations, which could qualify him for community service instead of any jail time. and now for a look at your national weather, let's turn to nbc meteorologist bill caron with your forecast. >> i imagine there's a lot of my little pony jokes that we'll be using in the next day or two. >> just a kid going out to the

playground, dropped his pony. that happens. >> and attached a few wires for -- >> i do it all the time. >> why not. >> all of a sudden the s.w.a.t. team comes swarming into the studio. i shouldn't make fun like that. good morning, everyone. active weather map, texas is getting drenched. this is a remainder of our tropical storm from yesterday. we have a strong cold front racing to the east coast. that's responsible for the wind and fires up there in detroit. but i think the worst of it is down here in texas. we've had a lot of flooding overnight from austin northward and now that heavy rain is arriving in the dallas/ft. worth area, too. some spots have estimated up to 8 to 10 inches of rain. we have evacuees in one mobile home park. we have reports of bridges watched out. interstate 35 is closed in the southbound lane near austin. here is a look at the rainfall estimates. this is austin down here. your orange color, about 3 to 4 inches. we have highlighted areas.

as much as 8 to 6 inches of rain in only a short period of time. in texas, that usually means flash floodling. you'll notice, that's right along the edge of the highway here. interstate 35 is going to be difficult to move up and down during the day today. rainfall totals, this is how much more i expect during the day today. areas of yellow, 2 to 4 inches and about 3 to 4 inches is possible as we head up towards oklahoma city today. the other the only story we mentioned is the cool air. it's 50 degrees in minneapolis now and 55 in chicago. this about 20 degrees cooler this morning in chicago than it was yesterday. eventually, that cool air is going to arrive on the east coast as we go into the day tomorrow. so your forecast today, one more day of summer up and down the eastern seaboard with highs in the upper 80s. there's all the rain in texas. cool, fall like weather arriving for the great lakes. lynn, this is it for the east coast. one more hot day and then it's

going to feel like fall. >> all right, phil, what are you going to do? the seasons move on. >> get the jacket ready and the tank tops put away. >> all right, phil, thanks. coming up, a rude return on wall street. big breakfast plans. and what's in a word, or more currently, a nonword? your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. another milestone for trevor hoffman. one blue jay is flying high and possibly the biggest loss of reggie bush's career. when i was seventeen, i was not good to my skin. long summer days, and not enough sleep.

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. welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. here is a look at some of the top stories this morning. u.s. investigators are looking at what caused a fighter to open fire yesterday killing two and wounding nine others. the two americans were the first u.s. service members to be killed in iraq since the obama administration declared an official end to combat operations last week. government officials are turning up the pressure on a

florida pastor who is planning to burn copies of the koran on saturday. attorney general eric holder yesterday called the plan it ottic and dangerous. while secretary of state hillary clinton condemned it as disgraceful. the mosque near 9/11 will include spaces for people of other faith. in an op-ed piece, they vow to complete the center and promises to clearly identify its financial backers. after 21 years in office, chicago mayor richard daley says he will not run for reelectric next year. the stunning announcement yesterday opens the door for a possible run by white house chief of staff rahm emanuel who said in april it's, quote, no secret he'd like to run for mayor of chicago some day.

and the 33 men trapped a half mile underground in chile got a morale boost yesterday when rescuers dropped a miniature projector into the mine and it allowed them to watch their country's soccer team play a match against the ukraine. a little relief there. well, now here is your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opened at 10,340 after losing 107 points yesterday. the nas dak dropped 24 and the s&p dropped 12 points. taking a look at overseas trade, tokyo, the nikkei dropped 201 points and the hang seng shot down 312. traders returning to wall street yesterday were immediately greeted with fears of weakness in european banks and that all led to an unexpected down day. major lenders across the pond potentially misstated risks in

debt. most analysts took the hit in stride, pointing out yesterday's light volume, which tend to exaggerate market moves. still, others saw reason for concern, particularly with so-called safe haven stock alternatives, like gold jumping. gold rose to an all-time high. among advancers, oracle was up almost 6% after hiring mark hurd, the former bought at hewlett packard. meanwhile, hp sued hurd asking a court to block him from working with oracle saying it puts hp's trade secrets in peril. bristol meyers squibb says it will acquire zeimogenetics. boeing announced it's slimming

down its military craft business and cutting workers as the u.s. tightens spending. job cuts will start with 10% of executives and more layoffs to come. burger king is planning a major marketing blitz all with an eye of eating up some mcdonald's morning business. finally, the word of the summer from merriam webster is not even a real word. that would be refeudate, refudiate. it led to more searches on the publisher's online dictionary than most real words. and that you can't refudiate. sorry, bad joke. tiger makes the cut, venus marches on and it looks like reggie bush will lose the statue. plus, closer trevor hoffman hit a nice, round number for his

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welcome back to "first look." court officials may be ready to take that unprecedented step of stripping reggie bush with the most coveted trophy in college sports. >> good monk. yahoo! sports as reported that reggie bush will be stripped of his 2005 heisman trophy by the end of the month.

the heisman trust will decide that bush received improper benefits while at usc, making him ineligible. the organization has since released a statement saying yoo-hoo's reports are inaccurate. if bush is indeed stripped of the heisman, he'll be the first player in the history of the award to have it taken away. tiger woods has received good news. he was selected to the ryder cup team as a captain's pick. baseball's tammy ramirez had fun with the rookies in their game against the phils. phillies took the lead and first place in the n.l. east with an 8-7 win. the brewers hoffman became the first player to sakes 600 games. there it is, number 600. brewers bead the cards, 4-2. what in the world has gotten into the blue jays?

vernon wells has gone deep in two straight games. tornado handed texas its fifth straight loss, 8-5. venus williams advanced to the semis in the open tennis. she's the lone american left in singles play. it's the second year that no american male has advanced to the quarters of the u.s. open. that's your first look at sports. and now for another quick look at the weather, let's turn it over to bill karins with a look at the forecast. >> just a few umbrellas will be needed this morning up around boston, maybe in providence. we've got light rain heading through new hampshire and also in maine. i think these showers will come to new york city and philly is dry for the most part, even down here in d.c., the radar is picking up a few sprinkles coming out of the mountains. it should be a relatively dry, warm, summer like day. we're talking about temperatures in the upper 80s. we have clouds in the morning

and then sunshine. notice the change, though. buffalo and pittsburgh, that cool air rushes in for you today. your temperatures will be dropping, even during the daylight hours. look at thursday. tomorrow is a completely different air mass. today is like summer. tomorrow is definitely like fall with highs in the 70s. overnight lows in the bushes will be down in the 40s and 50s. that will be a change of pace. if you like the warmth and the heat and the humidity, today is the last day for it for many areas of the eastern seaboard. texas, we've highlighted your problems today. a lot of flash flooding issues. there's that beautiful weather up here in the northern plains. 72 and sunny today in chicago, lynn. >> bill, thank you. who does the river mill say has grabbed the female lead in the new spider-man film? plus, even know for keeping his emotions in check on the field. but the same can't be said of his girl friend. it's the fusion proglide challenge. woow! hey man, how ya doin'? how's your shave? kinda like tuggin' and pullin'. see how shaving can cause irritating tug and pull?

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welcome back to "first look." last night jimmy fallon reported despite his critics, president obama is still top dog in washington. >> during his speech yesterday, president obama said critics refer to him like a dog. then biden got up to agree with him and he had, biden, sit! white house party crasher michelle salahi is going to pose nude in playboy.

her main motivation is that no one has invited her to. dr. oz had a colonoscopy on his showed. i want to say to my camera guys, you could have it much worse. >> late night with jimmy fallon, weeknights at 12:35. and it's time now for your first look at entertainment news. yoko ohno is said to be pleased with the decision to keep her husband's killer behind bars. a new york parole board turned down mike david chapman citing, the disregard for human life. he shot john lennon outside his home in 1980. angelina jolie met flood victims in northwestern pakistan yesterday, appealing to the world to come to the aid of the

country. hillary did you hauff was s with a discriminate to the new spider-man flip. and finally, a lawyer for actress minca kelly denies reports that she had a major meltdown on a new york to l.a. flight after being told that she couldn't put her dog on her seat during takeoff. tmz reported that it took all seven flight attendants, a personal plea from the pilot and a phone call to boyfriend derek jeter to calm her down. it's always a phone call to derek jeter to calm her down. and now sheer saying that it wasn't to derek jeter. >> she's denying that she had a meltdown in general, aren't you?

well, coach, gas. i don't know about her allegation. >> you're jealous. >> why, because she's with derek jeter? of course not. i have no problem with that. stay tuned. way too early with willie geist starts right now. weeks after the controversy over the islamic cultural center near ground zero became a national story, the imam behind the project speaks out in an op-ed. the question is, what did he have to say to the families of the 9/11 victims? meanwhile, president obama is preparing a big economic speech where he'll speak out against the bush tax cuts for the country's wealthiest families. will president obama persuade members of his own party? and speculation this morning that after the retirement of chicago mayor richard daley, president obama could lose one of his right hand men to that